Montclair Public Schools has cut funding for an investigation of district finances in half.
An annual audit found serious internal failures, overspending and high-risk weaknesses that outside finance experts say reflect longstanding management problems — amounting to a “D grade.”
The legally required annual audit of district monies for 2024-25 left open opportunities for additional investigation under a planned forensic audit. School officials plan to present the scope of that work to the board on Wednesday.
“We do still have money in the budget for a forensic audit, but we did reduce that from an original estimate of $500,000 to $250,000 based on conversations we’ve had with other districts that did forensic audits,” School Business Administrator Dana Sullivan told the board last month.
Cash-Strapped Schools
The funding reduction comes as the board considers a $158.9 million budget for 2026-27. Officials say the plan would eliminate 32 teaching positions, end freshman sports and increase some transportation costs for families.
The district’s annual audit for 2024-25, conducted by PKF O’Connor Davies, identified seven “material weaknesses” — significant deficiencies in financial controls — and issued the district a qualified opinion, meaning auditors found problems in the financial statements.
“This is a breakdown from the top,” James DiGabriele, an accounting and finance professor at Montclair State University with expertise in forensic accounting, said in an interview. “The people running things either did not know what they were doing or intentionally did not care.”
Who Was In Charge?
The audit details 17 separate ways the district bungled its finances. Much of it occurred under the leadership of Superintendent Jonathan Ponds; former School Business Administrator Christina Hunt; and then-interim Superintendent Damen Cooper.
Ponds died in July 2024. Hunt resigned in July 2025 amid calls for a forensic audit. Cooper led the district until Superintendent Ruth B. Turner started in July 2025.
The audit showed duplicate purchase orders, untimely reviews and poor separation between funds set aside for planned expenses and amounts owed. This included a duplicate purchase order of about $500,000, according to the document.
“It’s a high-risk area for kickbacks and embezzlement, and also contributes to the overstatement of expenses,” DiGabriele said.
However, DiGabriele said halving the money for the forensic audit isn’t necessarily a red flag.
“Sometimes more isn’t better. Better is better. If they narrow the scope to the areas they believe the bodies are buried rather than making the scope broad for $500,000, I don’t think it’s a problem,” DiGabriele said.
‘What’s the Objective?’
DiGabriele also questioned the utility of a forensic audit. District officials have repeatedly said they do not suspect fraud or “missing money,” though it is not clear how they reached that conclusion.
“My first question would be, what’s the objective of this? To spend $500,000 just to give your taxpayers a little more confidence, may not be worth it, because you just may decide to, going forward, just correct the seven major material points and the 17 in total,” DiGabriele said.
Neither Turner nor Sullivan answered emails or a phone message Friday and Monday seeking comment on the reduced funding for the forensic audit and whether the district’s annual audit brings Montclair any closer to holding officials responsible.
Draft RFP
A draft request for proposals says the forensic audit will focus on the 2024-25 fiscal year, though the school board could expand its scope with written approval. The RFP seeks firms to assess internal financial controls, including “identifying and investigating potential irregularities such as fraud, waste, abuse, misappropriation of funds and noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations and policies.”
Preliminary fieldwork is expected to begin in July, or on a date set by the school business administrator, and to be completed by Sept. 30. The RFP calls for a draft report by Oct. 31, followed by a public presentation by the auditor of the findings.
The district initially made the annual audit findings public in February. The school board formally accepted the audit when it adopted a “corrective action plan” March 18.
Montclair Local asked Board of Education President Yvonne Bouknight whether the board had prior knowledge of any findings, whether members would take a more assertive oversight role and whether former officials could be held accountable. She replied with an automated out-of-office email on April 8, which said she would return Monday. However, on Monday, she did not immediately answer a voicemail or follow up email.
‘It’s a D grade’
The annual audit revealed seven “material weaknesses,” which are deficiencies that indicate serious issues with the district’s checks and balances on finances. The auditors also gave Montclair a “qualified opinion” – meaning there were errors in the financial statements.
“It’s a D grade, and it does seem to be very systemic,” Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting, a national public finance watchdog organization, told Montclair Local.
“These problems are not common,” Weinberg added.
Weinberg, in a March 2025 interview with Montclair Local, called out the district’s pattern of unpaid bills as “disconcerting” and then drew attention to the $23.9 million “unrestricted” deficit reported in the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. Last week, she noted the issue persists.
“A key issue that should have drawn attention is the large negative unrestricted amount. This reflects bills the district has already incurred but has deferred paying to the future. If the district were truly balancing its budget, the unrestricted figure would be at zero or positive,” Weinberg said.
‘Implications Are Serious’
The audit puts the deficit, as of June 30, 2025, at $13.6 million and calls out 39 budget lines overspent.
“The root cause appears to be weak internal controls, insufficient oversight of budget approvals, and challenges in using the district’s financial systems to track spending,” Weinberg said. “The implications are serious. Spending beyond available resources increases the risk of financial instability, misallocation of funds and challenges in meeting future obligations.”
The district also reported owed vacation and sick leave without supporting documentation, according to the audit.
“It’s not good to not be able to find the documents,” Weinberg said. “And it prevented them from obtaining sufficient information to determine whether the liability number that they were looking at was complete and accurate.”
Failure to Track Grants
From 2011-2017, the district failed to collect $2 million in grant monies from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, the report said.
“The cause is inadequate grant tracking and follow up,” Weinberg said. “The implications are that the district missed opportunities to secure and properly use funds it is legally entitled to, which could have alleviated fiscal pressures.”
Also, among the findings:
- The district waived guaranteed financial protections in its contract with Southwest Food Service Excellence, resulting in a $519,793 settlement and a $912,185 overall loss for the Food Service Fund.
- The district failed to maintain the required federal I-9 documentation confirming its employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.
- The district failed to accurately record pre-school related revenues and expenditures, leading to $944,862 that school officials had to reclassify.
- Officials made errors in the district’s Application for State School Aid submissions, including data on enrollment, handicapped students, low-income and bilingual students.
The auditors also found the district “lacked an updated inventory and documentation for its capital assets.”
“They didn’t have appropriate supporting documentation, which prevented the auditors from doing an appropriate audit,” Weinberg said. “The books were so messed up they couldn’t even look at the books.”
Repeat Findings
Hunt, who painted a rosy picture of her time in Montclair before she left, has since secured a job as business administrator in Penns Grove – Carnys Point. Since then, she has not answered Montclair Local’s multiple requests for comment over several months asking about her role in the deficit.
Cooper, who retires from his role as director of secondary education July 1, also has not answered questions from Montclair Local.
The auditors noted six recommendations had appeared in prior years’ reports, suggesting some problems went unresolved despite repeated warnings.
“People weren’t paying attention,” Weinberg said. “Some of these findings had been noted in audits in previous years. Taxpayers need to be watching.”
What’s Next?
The Montclair Board of Education has scheduled a workshop meeting for Wednesday, April 15. The public session opens at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the George Inness Annex Atrium, 141 Park Street. View the agenda, livestream and sign up for virtual public comment, registration for which opens 30 minutes before the meeting.
Email reporter Asad Jung at asad@montclairlocal.news
Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news